The Hollywood Reporter published a really scathing review of The Watchmen yesterday so I just had to post it. It seems to me like Honeycutt, the reviewer, never read the comic; he doesn't seem to appreciate the narrative of the story at all. Honeycutt mentions the combo of the superhero movie with crime fiction, citing The Dark Knight as a success of this genre marriage. He finds The Watchmen fails at this attempt, however, and comes off merely "nihilistic and campy."
Who knows? I haven't seen the film so I can't really respond yet, but I feel that Honeycutt really misses the point of the story. He just isn't into it. Perhaps he reflects a large chunk of the American audience that hasn't ever taken a look at the graphic novel and, consequently, also won't get the message. Who watches the Watchmen? Not Honeycutt.
4 comments:
I'd be slightly worried, except the reviewer appears to be a total moron. They refer to each other as masks, but it's not the name of their group -- that's really dumb.
Agreed. Kirk Honeycutt sounds like a complete idiot. "Fight scenes don't hold a candle to Asian action"? What?
"Snyder and writers David Hayter and Alex Tse never find a reason for those unfamiliar with the graphic novel to care about any of this nonsense. And it is nonsense. When one superhero has to take a Zen break, he does so on Mars. Of course he does."
Yes. Yes, he actually does. Your point?
There'a a better THR blog post that, while still not as positive as you expect, seems more realistic about the film's prospects: paraphrasing, they think the first weekend should be great, since fans of the GN will turn out, but the second weekend will show if the film has any staying power for the uninitiated.
I've read reviews bemoaning the fact that the film is set in an alternate "Nixonian America," and the reviewer seemed blindsided by this alternate America - a clear sign they have no familiarity at all with the source material. I just hope moviegoers who haven't read the GN respond like this...
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